Did someone crash into your car? Now is the right time to sell it and recover the repair costs from the party at-fault. How to go about it?

Compensation for Damages - How Does it Work?

In the Czech republic, if someone causes damage to your property, you have the right to compensation, specifically for the cost of repairs. Here's the interesting part: you can quantify and claim these costs from the damage, even if you don't carry out the repair. This is called notional repair costs.

What Does this Mean in Practice?

For example, you have an older car worth CZK 200,000 and someone crashes it. The repair costs CZK 20,000. The new scratch is lost among the other scratches and you decide to sell the car for the original CZK 200,000. You still have the right to claim CZK 20,000 for repairs even if you sell the car without repairs.

How does case law perceive this?

The case law of the Czech Supreme Court is settled that the amount of damage cannot be made dependent on the fact of how the victim disposes of the item. The injured party cannot benefit or be disadvantaged by how the injured party deals with the situation after the damage.

Why is that?

The amount of compensation depends on the fact that the damaged object does not provide the same benefit after the damage and repairs as it did before the damage. This decrease in value occurs whether or not the damaged item is sold after repair. The benefit lies not only in the possibility of selling the item, but also in its continued use where the victim may bear the risk of hidden defects or poorly executed repairs.

These concerns, which reduce the purchase price, stem from the potential risk of hidden defects, higher susceptibility to damage or the risk of poorly executed repairs. It is often difficult for an injured party to prove that these problems are related to the original claim. This implies that the victim's property condition is already diminished at the time of the loss. Simply put: the damage occurs when the item is damaged, regardless of its future fate.

What this means for you:

If someone crashed your car or caused other damage to your property, you can claim the cost of repairs even without them being carried out. This way, you can get compensation and minimize your financial losses.

If you need help claiming compensation for damage to property, don't hesitate to contact our law firm - we are here for you.